Closer
by Alise In Fantasy
Summary: Isabella has been sent off to three matchmakers to find her a suitor, but as the saying may go, maybe the one is closer than you think. S.ItalyXFem!Spain
1. Chapter 1

**Three dots, change of perspective between Romano and Spain. One dot, just a time skip.**

* * *

"Isabella, take this and go. You must go and find those three. Be safe my dear daughter." Papa placed a kiss on my forehead and ushered me into the carriage.

"Papa-"

"Not now child. You'll be in safe hands with the matchmaker! Off you go!" Papa waved me off as I poked my head out of the window of the moving carriage.

"But I don't want to be with a matchmaker…"

…

"Lovino! You must clean up! You cannot meet our first client of the year like this!" Francis yelled at me.

"Shut up! It's not we're meeting her in my room!" I flipped him off as I slammed the door in his face and sat on my bed. I grabbed my notepad and a pencil.

"Be that way then!"

"Oh let him go Francis, he'll be nicer when the girl gets here."

I can't believe Nonno made me become part of the group that's known for setting up every girl in the country. As they say in the slogan 'We can find you the best fucking husband you fucking want!'

I drew circles in the air before starting a letter to my younger brother. Apparently he is now engaged to some girl from Germany. And this girl is Gillian's younger sister. How they got together? I don't fucking know. The only thing that bothers me is that my tow younger siblings already have a girlfriend and I'm still freaking single. Not. Cool.

Even Francis has a girlfriend and Gillian even has a boyfriend. How the two of them got someone? Beats me. They're mysteries of the world. Though Matthew, Gillian's boyfriend, isn't that bad. He's actually really nice. Just very unnoticeable. As for Jeanne, she's like a mother figure toward me. Considering I never met my parents.

Continuing from back stories, I finally finished Feliciano's letter. I put it aside so I could send it later today.

"Lovino! Get your ass out here! We have to meet the client."

"Yeah, yeah. Calm down."

The three of us stood outside of our cottage that sat on top of a hill. Not a tall one, but it still was a pain of an ass to walk up. "When is she supposed to get here?"

"Be patient Lovino, it's a hill. A carriage can take some time to get up here."

"Ah! Milady! It is absolutely inappropriate to walk up this hill in that manner!"

"Aw, c'mon it's a hill Fredrick! A carriage takes way too long to ride on a hill."

"But you shouldn't be barefooted-AH! Don't rip your dress any further! It takes many weeks to create a dress of that quality!"

Fredrick sounds like a stuffy dude.

"It's not like it's the only one I have Fredrick."

Soon after that statement was said, a girl with dark brown hair tied up into a bun that was falling apart. Tanned skin and was wearing a pink lacy dress that was torn at her knees.

"KYA! ISABELLA!" Gillian screeched. Then she ran into the girl's arms and tackled the two of them onto the ground. "I didn't know it was going to be you!"

"Ah, mon ami. It's been quite awhile," Francis stated as he helped the two girls up. "And I kept it a secret from you Gilly. I knew you would surprised." The three started conversing as I stood in my spot watching.

"Please keep an eye on milady-"

"What?!" I stepped back and tripped onto my ass. "Ow…"

"I am very sorry for startling you sir." Fredrick bowed slightly and extended a gloved hand. I took it and stood back up.

I dusted off my clothes and cleared my throat. "It's fine. So what's the deal with that girl?" I asked.

"Everything will be explained from her. Make sure you keep an extra eye on her. She's a bit…" He looked up at the sky then back at me. "how you say, rambunctious. Good luck to you three." He patted my shoulder and headed back down the road.

I took a deep breathe and yelled, "Get your asses in the house so we can talk!"

…

I had changed into something more comfortable than those dresses Fredrick would always make me wear. It was a nice change of pace. All I now wore was a long tunic and some trousers. And of course my undergarments. And thankfully not that accursed corset.

The four of us sat at the dinner table. There was Francis, Gillian, and a man named Lovino. I think he looks fairly cute! Especially that curl that comes out of his head. I wonder why he doesn't just keep it down…

"So can you explain what you're looking for in a man?" Lovino asked.

"A man? Hm. I don't know!" I chirped. Lovino's eye twitched and his grip on his pencil tightened. Francis put a hand on his shoulder, but Lovino shoved it off.

"Don't mind him, he's like that. As for why your father sent you, you have to tell us what you are looking for in a suitor Isabella," Francis told me. "Do like tall, short? Straightforward, blunt? Cubby, skinny? What?"

"I really don't know Francis. I never went outside of the castle grounds, you know that," I told him. "The only people I've ever interacted with, were Papa, mama, the servants and maids, and you two."

"That is true, Francis," Gillian mentioned, leaning back into her chair. "Think we need to throw a little party to see what she likes?"

"Oui, exactly what I was thinking. What do you think Lovino?" Francis asked. Lovino glared at him and got out of his chair.

"Whatever. We'll go shopping for the shit tomorrow. As for today, let's just get to know each other! As you guys would call it." Then a door slam resounded through the cottage.

"Are you sure he's always like that?"

"Positive."

.

I was laying down in the grass, watching the clouds float by. It's so calm here. I like it here.

"What are you doing here?" I heard a voice and I looked to my right.

"Watching the clouds. Wanna watch with me Lovino?" I asked. He looked back at the cottage and put his hands into his pockets.

"Why the fuck not." He sat down next to me and leaned back on his hands.

"So how'd you meet the two idiots?" I smiled at his statement.

"It's actually not that long. I was walking in the courtyard of my house and saw two kids at the gate. We started talking and we just became friends. Simple, really."

"Oh. Did you have a big house?"

"Yeah. It's humongous! I easily get lost in it even though I've lived there my entire life! I was even born there so you would think I wouldn't get lost!"

"Pfft, must be nice to have parents."

"I guess. But I rarely see my dad."

"Why? What does he work as?"

"He's the king of Spain. My mother is the queen. My older brother is the prince and I'm the princess!"

"You're what?!" I looked at him with wide eyes. He didn't know? "I never knew. Why didn't anyone tell me?!"

"You know now!" I flung myself up and crossed my legs. "You don't mind right?" I cocked my head to the right and watched him. He became a light red and averted his eyes.

"I don't mind. Would have been nice if someone told me. Probably won't be hard to find someone who would want to marry you now."

"Ugh!" I fell back onto the grass. "I don't wanna marry anyone though! I don't wanna just marry someone who is just interested just because I'm the princess of Spain."

"So I guess we'll keep it a secret. Shouldn't be that hard," he pondered. "Should it?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure if the kingdom of France knows about the princess of Spain. They should know my name, maybe?" I pondered myself.

"I guess we'll figure it out when we have that party."

"Still. I don't wanna marry anyone. I just want to find someone whom I can love on my own! I mean like I'm not going to run the kingdom, my older brother will. So why do I have to do anything?!" I cried out.

"Maybe in case something happens to your brother. Life is unexpected so you can never be too careful. Well…maybe you can. But you know what I mean."

"Yeah I do. But….I don't think anything would happen to Esteban. He's strong and he can fight someone off. Not to mention he's already getting married in March. As for me. I've always been the secluded child. I never wanted anything to do with politics or anything of the sort. I just wanted to live my life the way I wanted to. Esteban on the other case, did everything he could so he could take over the kingdom completely. He took sword classes from the army general. He studied each subject and aced each one. He never did play with me. All he did was study. No one paid any attention to me. Now that I think about it, probably no one really liked me in the castle."

"You're out of there now aren't you. Maybe you can just take this chance to finally be yourself."

"I guess you're right Lovino. Gracias!"

…

I sat in my bed rereading my letter to Feliciano. Fuck it, I'm gonna rewrite it. I have new stuff I can tell him about.

I had no other light other than the moonlight coming in from the window above my bed. I liked the night the best. It was secluded and peaceful. No one can bother you during the night. Though that girl is bothering me. Even though she was a princess, she seemed, odd. She had no aura of authority around her. All you could feel was happiness radiating from her. From her past, how could she be so happy all the time? But when I was talking to her eyes held sadness. Okay great I'm acting all cheesy now. I looked at the letter I had been writing for awhile now.

"_Dear Feliciano,_

_I hope you're happy with Monika. I will definitely come to Italy for the wedding. Do not fret my younger brother. No need to send me an invitation. I already know what you want me to do. Bring someone along with me. Yeah I don't think that's happening._

_Today, January 09, our first client of the year has come. Her name is Isabella Fernandez-Carriedo. She says she is the princess of Spain. She has chocolate colored hair that is curly and reaches the length of her waist. She has emerald green eyes and her smile is bright. And I can't stand her happiness, but somehow it is refreshing to be around her, rather than those two idiots I live with currently. Somehow she reminds me of Bella. Though I like her better-"_

What. Did. I. Just. Write.

_"Though I like her better than her. She's really pretty and I can't stand to Carmen to be sad. Today I had talked to her about her past and all. She looked really somber. I can't stand that. I can't believe how cheesy I sound now._

_Write back soon Feliciano._

_Your Dearest Brother,_

_Lovino."_

What the fuck did I just write!? I quickly tore up the letter and threw it into the trash bin. Got a new piece of paper and started writing again. Goddammit, I don't need to think about her. I took a glance at the letter Feliciano sent me. Might as well look at it. I don't know what to write to him.

_"Dear Lovino, How have you been? Monika, Nonno, and I have been great! We're all having fun planning the wedding. You are coming right? Because you and Marcello will be my groomsmen._

_Oh! Also tell me all about your new client! You were supposed to get on when the new year rung in, right? I hope it'll get your mind off of things, you should know especially._  
_Don't worry about Bella! She isn't the only girl out there! I'm sure there's someone better for you. Speaking of which, Nonno finally found someone to date. Seriously. I hope it'll last. She's really pretty. You'll meet her in June. If they stay together by then…_

_Monika wants to know how Gilly is. I'm sure she's fine. "Awesome!" Like she says all the time. Hehe. I miss that sometimes. I miss you Lovino. I hope you get this soon! Write back soon!_

_Your Brother Dearest,  
Feliciano_

_P.S. This is Monika, make sure Gillian doesn't do anything inappropriate."_

No guarantee about Gillian and Bella…

Now if you're wondering about Bella, she was my fiancée three months ago. Then she broke it off and ran off to Belgium. Heh, should have known. No one wants to stay with me. I don't know how she put up with me that long. But that's in the past and I'm moving on gradually. Gradually is the key word here. Ah, fuck it. Feliciano's letter can wait till tomorrow. I need to sleep…

The morning sun woke me up. Stupid sun.

I walked into the living room and found Isabella there as well. All she was wearing was a over sized shirt.

"Isabella!"

She looked at me sleepily as she rubbed her eyes and yawned. "What?"

"Go change into some decent clothes! You're living in a house with two men!" I pushed her back into her room and shut the door close. "Geez, have some decency."

"Ohonhon~ Lovino is blushing~~" Francis cooed.

I gave him the finger and walked into the kitchen. "Fuck off Francis! You can stay as far as possibly you can from me today!"

"Oh, but today Lovino we are going into the shops to go looking for Isabella's clothing and makeup. We cannot separate from each other!" he cried out.

"Tch, whatever." I rolled up my sleeves and started working on making pancakes. What? Matthew showed me how to make it and it's pretty good if I don't say so myself. Though I still need to brush up on the flipping part of it. I put two pancakes onto four different plates. Two of them should be good till lunch.

All of us ate, Francis, Gillian, and Isabella were all talking.

I just sat there poking at my meal.

A hand waved in front of my face and I looked at the owner of the hand. "You gonna eat Lovino? We have a lot to do today, don't we?" Isabella asked, putting a smile on her face.

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled, stuffing a piece of the pancake into my mouth.

…

Ugh, my least favorite thing to do. Shopping. And makeup. Bleh. I don't like them! It's too tiring.

"Come on Isabella. You need to do this. If you want to find a suitable suitor, you have to look beautiful," Gillian stated.

"But I don't wanna marry!" I shouted.

"Too bad princess, you gotta. Daddy's orders," Gillian said. I puffed out my cheeks and looked at the rolling scenery that was passing by. "How you liking the views? Nice right?"

Gillian and I were in a separate carriage from Francis and Lovino. Girls with girls and boys with boys, I guess.

"Si. Though I really don't want to marry some person."

"Daddy's orders. We are supposed to find someone YOU like within this one month. Like it or not."

"But I don't wanna!" I slouched against the couch of the carriage. "Really? What is the point of throwing a party? It's not like I'm required to socialize."

"Oh, but we'll be making you princess. If we don't find you a suitor, our reputation is," she started, then gave a thumbs down. "down the drain. Not to mention, finding the future husband for the princess of Spain. Great advertisement if I don't say so myself. 'We found the husband for Princess Isabella, we can find one for you too!' Okay not a great one, but I'm sure I can come up with a better one."

The carriage came to an abrupt stop and the door opened.

"Come on," Lovino said, "Let's go get you all pretty, princessa."

* * *

**New story while not finishing my other story which is only a few chapters away from being finished, seems legit. No it's not legit. I'm having major writer's block on that story as of right now so I just made this so my writing skills are not rusted. Not to mention, this kinda happened in a dream so I just want to pen it so I don't forget anything!**

**Uh, review whatever, and I hope you enjoy this story. Not going to be long if I go by my plans.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Francis! Get that stick away from my face!"

"This stick, is LIPstick! And you need to put this on! You must look presentable to men!"

"I don't wanna!"

Francis and Isabella were fighting with each other over makeup. Isabella didn't want to wear makeup. Francis wants her to wear makeup. A fight will ensue.

Just like now.

Currently the three of us, Francis, Isabella, and I, were in the ballroom for the party in two days preparing everything. From clothing, decorations, and the suitors. Gillian was currently out in the town putting up posters mentioning the party. Francis was still trying to get some makeup on her. And I was just looking at all the dresses in the storage/closet room.

"Stiff, formal, ew, nope, ugh. Where's that one dress?"

"Which one Lovino?!" Francis called out.

"The red one! The lacy one!"

"What?! Racy?!"

"No! The one with lace!"

"Oh! That one! I put that one in the back of the closet! It should be in a black box!"

"Thank you!" I got down on my hands and knees, shoving away all the colored boxes in my way.

I sat in front of three black boxes. "The bastard couldn't be anymore specific than a black box?" I sighed and opened up the first one. A hat. A fucking hat. I closed the box and pushed it back into the closet to be forgotten again.

I opened the second box. Oh, I forgot about this dress. It was a dark green color with lace sleeves and it was wrapped where the chest was. The green was nice, but I don't think it suit her very much. I laid it back down and covered the box once again.

The third box contained what I had been looking for. It was a sleeveless red lace dress with a ribbon going around the waist, that was floor length. It would hug the upper body and it has a nice loose fit from the waist down. I believe it should look fairly good on her. I laid the dress back down in the box and I stood up. I picked up the box and walked out of the closet.

"And there!" Francis held up a hairbrush and stood back to look at her hair. "Perfect. I finally finished it. Lovino, take a look at our little bachelorette." Francis spun the chair and Isabella looked at me. Her hair was wavy and she had the perfect amount of makeup on her. She had a light smokey eye and a natural color on her lips, with just a small amount of blush put on her.

"What do you think?" Francis asked.

"...good. Um...pretty good. Yeah." I scratched my chin and held the box out for Francis to hold. "Have her try on the dress and see if it fits."

"Of course. Isabella, try it on." He handed her the box with a smile. She took it and walked over to the closet to change. My eyes unconsciously followed her. I snapped out of it once I heard the door slam.

"D-Did a pretty good job on her."

"Merci. I can tell I did a good job, even YOU couldn't take your eyes off of her."

"What?! Shut up!"

"Ohonhonhon~~"

"I'm done," a female voice called out. I turned to look at the source of the voice.

"Mon dieu..."

"Holy...mother..." I was fucking right. She looked so...so...pretty. The dress hugged her at her most skinniest parts and the red really just. Wow.

"Great decision on the dress Lovino. All the boys will want to get to know her." He patted my shoulder and walked over toward where she was standing.

Fuck. Just, FUCK. She's so pretty! Fucking shit. Breathe, Lovino, breathe. You have to keep your composure. Especially around girls.

"Lovino?"

"Asdflkj!" I jumped up and turned around quickly. So much for composure. "W-What? Isabella?"

"I was just wondering when the party was. Is it soon or what?"

"Probably in a week or so," I told her. I straightened my shirt and walked over to where Francis's stuff was. I picked up the lone cosmetic items from the ground while Isabella followed me.

"Hey, Lovino, are you in a relationship or anything?"

"No. I was engaged, but called it off. Wait, why am I even telling you?" I asked while I stood up with the cosmetic items.

"But I was curious," she asked while she fidgeted with her hands. I sighed as I set the items on the table with the rest of the others. "Is it bad?"

"No, but I'd prefer not to talk about."

"Will you tell me in the future?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"Whether or not I want to."

"Eh, that's not fair."

"Too bad. Anyways," I turned around to look at her. "I think I wanna adjust your dress a little."

"A little? How much?" she asked while spinning in a slight circle.

"Add some fabric so it can become how you say, more poofy. Not that I want it to be all poofy. Just going to add fabric so from the waist down can have some volume instead of sticking to your legs," I explained. "Got it?"

"How do you know all of this?" she wondered.

.

It feels like she took a big hit to my man ego. What's wrong with a man knowing about fashion?! Okay, I'll admit it's a bit odd, especially when you know a ton about FEMALE clothing, but you learn a lot when your younger brother wore dresses until he was eight. Stupid Feliciano...

"Alright the awesomeness has appeared! And finished courting many men!" Gillian yelled out as she barged in to the house. "Got at least a hundred guys to come to the party! Whoo!"

"Eh? So many...what did you do Gillian?" Francis questioned.

"Nothing! All I mentioned was a 'girl who was ready to fall head over heels with a foreign man~~' That's all," she explained.

"Ehhhhhhh, but that's not what I want!" Isabella complained. "I don't want to fall in love with some person!"

"Too bad girly, you gotta," Gillian retorted. "Or else no more of your princess life."

"I don't care if I'm on the streets, I just want to love who I wanna!" she cried out as she ran back to her room.

"Nice going Gillian," Francis complained. "We just got her to agree to most of our stuff, now you just HAD to say that to her!"

"What?! She needs a reality check sometimes. Just because she's a princess doesn't mean she can get everything she wants!" Gillian yelled and stomped to her room.

Francis ran his fingers through his hair and turned around to look at me. I cocked and eyebrow at him. He sighed exasperated.

"Go talk to Isabella and I'll talk to Gillian."

He turned to go to Gillian's room, leaving me alone. I looked over to her room. How was I supposed to approach this? Getting in the middle of two girl's fight is never a good thing. You should see what happens when Jeanne and Gillian fight. It starts out with a small argument and ends with a sword fight and Francis and I tending to their wounds.

How would this fight turn out? Well then again, is it considered a fight? Cat fight? No. Argument? Eh. Maybe. Disagreement? I guess so. Okay, their's no point in categorizing this.

I sighed and walked to her room. I knocked gently on her door.

"Isabella?" No answer.

I knocked louder. "Isabella?" Again, no answer. "Really?"

I reached for the doorknob and found it was unlocked. "I'm coming in," I called out into the room. I walked in and closed the door behind me. I leaned against the wall while I watched the lump on the bed shift slightly.

"Come on, what's problem?"

"I don't wanna do this. What's so wrong about me finding my own partner? Just because I'm the princess of Spain doesn't mean I have to do this!" she complained.

"Maybe it's because your parents are worried about you," I pondered.

"What?" I saw that she turned to look at me. Her hair falling in her face while she watched me. I sighed and closed my eyes.

"Maybe, it's because they don't want you to wait too long before falling in love," I told her. "Sure love is something that takes time, but sometimes it can take a long time. Or a short time. Or maybe they just want the best for you. Not wanting you to spend your life alone. In a house. With like thirty cats. I can relate."

"How can you relate?"

"Because I was in love. Once."

"Once?"

Now this was peaking her interest. She started moving out of her blanket shell and sitting upright in her bed. Guess I'll just continue.

I sat down on the floor and crossed my legs.

"There was girl. Blonde hair. Pretty green eyes. This smile that could melt you within seconds. She knew what to say and when to say it. I truly loved her," I said. "But I guess she didn't love me the same way.

"When we both turned twenty our parents arranged a marriage between the two of us. Why? Because apparently they wanted us to be happy. To never be alone when we grew older. I was happy. I was happy that I was going to marry the one who was the center of my life. Then not too long ago, she ran away. Back to her home country because she didn't want this. She didn't want to get married.

"Somehow, I knew this was going to happen. She was never the one to settle down in one spot for long. She always dreamt of going to new places each day. And I guess marriage seemed like something...that would constrict her. So she ran. She apologized to me before the day she left, but still. It still hurts knowing that she knew I loved her, yet for her own selfish reasons, she just left."

I looked over to Isabella. It looked like she was thinking hard. She took a deep breathe and hung her head.

"Sorry. I guess I was being a bit selfish," she apologized.

"Yeah. You were being selfish," I responded.

"Mm, you didn't have to say it like that," she complained. "I know. And I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing. It's annoying. If you want to apologize, say it to Gillian. She pissed off," I told her.

"Your right. Thanks, Lovino!" She smiled brightly at me. Then ran out of the room, probably to apologize to Gillian.

I slumped against the wall.

What am I going to do? I told her everything. What's she going to think of me now?...Ah forget it for now. I'm hungry.

* * *

**Sorry excuse for a chapter. And sorry it's a bit short. And late. I just caught a cold. Not to mention I joined track so I'll be a bit busy. So...  
Thanks for reading. *Bows*  
Tell me how I'm doing. I'm always looking to improve. You can't always trust your friend's opinion. **


	3. Author's Update

**Sorry this isn't an update. **

**I am only putting this here since I have something to say. No I ain't stopping the story. I'm just going to onto a hiatus for about 2 weeks. Once school ends I will update as soon as I can. **

**I am truly really sorry, but school is taking up a lot of time for me right now. So I'll give a small sneak preview of the next chapter, alright?**

* * *

"Isabella, it's a little late to be making food," a male voice said behind me.

I turned around and saw Francis smiling at me. "But I wanna make something."

"Not this late. Go to bed. You can make you want in the morning. Alright?" he proposed.

"But..." I turned sadly at the ingredients I laid out.

"C'mon. I'll help you clean too." He shuffled over and started putting away everything. "So are you going to tell me why you are up at midnight trying to bake churros?"

"Well," I started when I stashed some chocolate I found. "I thought Lovino would love some. Not to mention I was craving it as well."

"You can do that tomorrow when we finish with some of the party stuff."

"But that's going to take forever!" I stomped on the ground and glared at him. "We finished at eight pm today! Is it going to take that long tomorrow?!"

* * *

**It's not much since I didn't get far writing, but I'll see you guys soon, alright?**


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